Liverpool officially announce Joel Matip transfer

The Reds had agreed to the deal with German club Schalke in January.

It's July 1, which means that summer transfer window is officially open and kicking. The first few hours have seen the likes of Dwight Gayle (Newcastle) and Nolito (Manchester City) join their new clubs. Next in line is Cameroon International defender Joel Matip, who completed his transfer to Liverpool earlier today.

The Reds confirmed the news on their website claiming that the 24-year is now officially registered with the Anfield side and will take part in club’s pre-training with his new teammates at Melwood on Saturday. Klopp kick starts the preparations for the next season later this week with Euro 2016 stars joining them in coming weeks.

Liverpool also completed another high-profile signing of Sadio Mane this week and are looking more of an assured side going into the 2016/17 season. With Mane in the team, Klopp might want to field a more fluid 4-2-3-1 formation with Mane attacking from the wide right while Roberto Firmino and Philippe Coutinho playing behind the lone striker Daniel Sturridge.

The defense would see the newly signed Matip partner Lovren in the central areas while Nathaniel Clyne and Joe Gomez expected to operate from the full-back areas. As for the man in goal, new summer signing Loris Karius will pip Simon Mignolet, who could be heading out of Anfield this summer.

What does Matip’s transfer mean for Liverpool?

Last season we saw The Reds struggle with the uncertain presence of Martin Skrtel, Dejan Lovren, and Kolo Toure. While Mamadou Sakho was their best defender, but he was far from being an assured figure at the back.

With Matip, Klopp can count on a solid defender who does not make too many errors and is always pushing players around him to give their best. He had a steady last season with Schalke and Liverpool fans will hope for something similar when he dawns the red of Liverpool in coming weeks.

Will there more signings for Liverpool?

Given how Klopp has been linked with players across Europe, I fancy Liverpool to complete at least couple of more transfer before the window shuts on August 31. Mario Gotze may have said no to a summer switch to Anfield but his former teammate Neven Subotic is a realistic target while Udinese’s Piotr Zielinski could also sign for Liverpool.